Venezuela Condemns Lima Meeting and Calls for Regional Dialogue

TeleSur English:-Venezuela called the meeting hosted by Peru, “an affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty.”

The Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza has summoned the ambassadors of the countries that took part in a meeting in Lima.

Arreaza delivered to each ambassador a formal protest against the meeting which issued a declaration outlining 16 measures to increase pressure against President Nicolas Maduro.

These included: qualifying Maduro as a “dictator,” rejecting the Constituent Assembly and refusing to acknowledge any legal action or bilateral agreement that does not come from the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Arreaza called the Lima meeting “an affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and the 8 million people who voted in the Constituent Assembly.”

Speaking after the series of meetings, the minister said he had reminded the ambassadors that left-wing governments in Latin America have never tried to impose their views on right-wing governments.

Arreaza added that the ambassadors acknowledged that since Venezuela held elections for the Constituent Assembly on July 30, the country has been at peace.

The ambassadors also recognized that candidates from across the political spectrum had enrolled to participate in the regional elections in December.

While Arreaza expressed Venezuela’s “absolute rejection” of the attempts to isolate Venezuela, he reiterated Maduro’s call for a new meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states, CELAC, in an effort to rebuild regional dialogue.

In an earlier message on Twitter, Arreaza said that CELAC was a zone of peace where Latin American representatives respect the principles of international law.

“It is without a doubt today’s most pertinent forum for dialogue,” he said.

Arreaza’s call for regional dialogue comes after the United States announced new sanctions against members of Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly, ANC.

In his remarks after meeting the ambassadors, Arreaza condemned the new sanctions, describing them as “imperial aggression from Washington.”

“When in history have you seen a government try to sanction an individual for peacefully organizing an election?” he asked.

“No one and nobody has the moral authority to judge Venezuela. Venezuela will always be free and sovereign,” he added.